also mma = mixed martial arts. it was created to be a modern day kumate (bloodsport movie) . where the masters from each martial art , albeit boxing,wrestling ,karate,bjj. compete to see who is the baddest .so if you arent even an expert at your art form how are you going to compete in mma . me personally i think you should even be able to compete in mma until your an adult , and a expert at your martial art .

yeah start them off young . i grew up in the martial arts bump (80's), i think there where more horrible schools back then than now . but hell i started at 6 im 35 now and lemme tell you the info on the bbj belts is correct as a base some schools have there own system there are always exceptions . but i have to say if i could take it back i probally would you know with the 28 broken fingers,3 poped knees,numerous broken toes,a fractured back (2 surgeries), and my last injury from a local tourny ahem severed big toe tendon. so hopefully said parents have good insurance because out of all the sports ive played at pretty high levels ,bjj and mma have injured me a lot more .

I think this a great post. realizing that injuries (some very bad) are a big part of all sports.
what it comes down to is how are you going to react when your kids get hurt in whatever sport they play because it is going to happen.

I play beach volleyball and used to play indoor volleyball, over the last 20 years I've had 3 broken ankles, probably 10-12 sprained ankles, couple broken fingers, torn ligaments in feet, torn shoulder muscles, etc.
Soccer in high school was the same thing. there are almost no sports out there where you are not going to get hurt badly in some way at some time.